General QuestionsGeneral questions related to 1999-2007 Super Duty trucks. If it doesn't fit the other categories, post it here. Gas engine discussion that pertains to all models is allowed. Specific gas engine questions should use the Gas Engines forum.
I haven't used any additives, but am worried about all the issues that seem to come up. I live in VA so we get some colder temps here. Not what the Northern Tier gets, but still below 32degrees on occasion.
I read that Stanadyne winter and Red line Oils seem to be the key to diesel fuel additives and anti gelling options. Do I have to get this stuff on line? Advance, Autozone and Pepboys don't seem to carry this stuff.
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Ralf
2005 F250 Crewcab 4x4 Lariat Axxess Tonneau Cover, otherwise stock.
1997 30th Anniversary Cougar XR7 (93,000)
1993 GMC Sierra K1500 (236,000 original 350 motor/4L60E tranny )
1990 Toyota Supra N/A (85,000)
1988 Mazda RX7 Convertible (225,000 original)
I doubt you would need to add anything but if you were to venture North, it would be a good idea to add some anti-gel. I like the Power Service products. You can find them at Tractor Supply or Walmart. I use the Diesel Kleen (grey bottle) in the warmer months. My unblinded assessment is the engine is a bit quieter and may have a modest increase in mileage and smoothness. Nothing spectacular but no decreases. In the winter I use the Diesel Fuel Supplement (white bottle) as insurance against getting fuel without appropriate winter blend. Stay away from small service stations selling diesel. The large truck stops will go through tank cars of diesel in a day and you are getting fresh fuel of reputable blend with little water contamination.
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2002 F350 Lariat CC 4x4 Auto 4.10 DRW, DP-Tuner F5 live tuned stock, quiet, 40dd, 40, 60, 80 tow, 80e and 120r, B&W GN, BrakeSmart, 'pooned tank, tank and pre-pump mods, 2µ Dahl 100 filter, regulated return, BTS dual HPOP, AC singles with EDM 34 lpm nozzles, AIS, H2e, Spearco 6.0 IC, Hypermax 3.5" dp--> MBRP 4" 304SS exhaust, BTS tranny, 203º T-stat, Chevron ELC, coolant filter, Oilguard bypass with Schaeffer 9000, WranglerNW 200 amp alternator & Optima group 31 batteries, Nippon-Denso starter, SPA gauges, SteveRacer mods, Hella 80/100W 9007s, Hella Micro DE foglights, 1000FF driving lights, 220W backup lights, Stancor contactor, Michelin XPS Traction tires, X-Springs, Bilstein shox, custom bumpers but otherwise stock. Nov 30 '99 build engine with 16 K miles, Fluidampr, Comp Cam 910 springs, Melling LPOP and ARP headstuds. Alien-Patrol Customer Service Sucks!
Your Owner's Guide tells you to not put any additives in your fuel or oil. The only additive Ford recommends is the friction modifier for rear axles that include limited slip.
API or SAE or one of those outfits did extensive tests on fuel additives a few years ago. They concluded than none of them did any good except for the anti-gel additive. But International engineers said you should add some cetane-enhancer if you live in Wisconsin and surrounding areas where decent diesel is not available. And Ford adds lubricity additive to the fuel tank at the factory to help break in the injectors, but they say it's not needed after the first tankful of fuel.
I don't use any of them in my PSD. If I lived up north, I'd probably keep a bottle or two of Stanadyne Winter 1000 anti-gel in my toolbox, "just in case". But I don't, so I don't. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/warmsmile.gif[/img]
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My Sierra Blanca is a '99.5 PSD CrewCab hot-rod Towing Machine! BTS tranny; TurboRamAir intake and 4" stainless turbo-back exhaust; DP-Tuner tunes flashed into an Edge Evolution tuner; ISSPRO EV gauges and TTM; AIC; SP-Diesel exhaust brake and torque converter controller. I special-ordered it new and plan to drive it until it quits.
I was also a little skeptical about fuel additives, until I saw that the local Ford dealer was selling fuel additives to prolong injector life and quiet the engine. Now I am not so sure.
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2000 F250 Lariat S/C SB 4X4 Off-Road
7.3L PSD
2005 Cedar Creek 30RLBS
PullRite Superglide Hitch
Firestone Ride-Rite Airbags and Dual Commander II
LINE-X, Mag-Hytec Diff Cover, Autometer 3-gauge kit, AFE Stage 2 Intake, Evans Coolant, boot kit, coolant filter kit, A/C heater bypass.
DP Tuner F5 (40HP Tow, 80HP econ, 100HP Race)and ATS Housing (awesome)
Magnaflow Performance 4 inch turbo back exhaust
BTS tranny coming in April 09.
Don't believe all you hear from the dealer, they are frequently wrong. I also use the PowerService in the white bottle, but only during the winter. I get it at WalMart for around $9 per half gallon jug. I add 8oz per tankfull to help with the jelling in extremely cold weather.
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2001 F-250 (pcm PMT2) ISS Pro EV tranny, boost, pyro gauges. TS Performance flip chip. Banks MONSTER exhaust, Maghytec rear diff cover, ITP H/X kit, Whelan 52" Strobe Bar, Fisher 8.5' Snow Plow, 3 Weatherguard tool boxes. HUTCH fuel tank mods, REMANFACTURED Ford transmission.
im glad you guys had talked about the power service in the white bottle because i wanted to post asking if anyone uses it. It is called the dielsel fuel power service octain booster made by power service. I first used this at 23,000 mi on my '04 F250 6.0 and about 1/4 way through the next fill up i added the rest. I think i may have over did it by an ounce or two the fist time dang it, then I added more fuel when the gauge dropped to 3/4. turns out on that 2nd batch of fuel, the truck was "coughing" with lots of black smoke. Had the EGR valve replaced. I'm just wondering......did the stuff work in cleaning out the junk and the EGR valve became clogged because of it? I'm running 15W-40 76's Royal Triton syn. Where I'm at in AK, it usually doesn't get below -20 very often. so far it hasn't dipped below -4 and have been houvering right around there for the past week. I think I should be changing to 10w 30 just like my owners manual says depending on climate. Anyways, I was wondering if that stuff worked so good that the EGR valve had to take the brunt of it. No way to escape maybe, but then I'm thinking the crud might escape through buring it out the exhaust but I'm not a mechanic. thanks.
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2004 SD F250 6.0 FX4 Lariat crew in Black clearcoat
If assume your talking about the Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement + Cetane Boost in the white bottle. I use it all the time in the winter. I highly doubt it had anything to do with your EGR Valve problem. I also had an EGR Valve replaced last winter, but it wasn,t clogged up, it electricaly failed.
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2004 F-350 Lariat, Supercab 4X4 FX4, DRW
Dark Toreador Red/Silver, 6.0L, Torqueshift Auto, ESOF, 4.10 LS, Camper Package, Dual Alternators. Build Date 6-8-04, Eng 5-28-04, Lance 9.5 Ft Camper.
you shouldnt need any addatives, but some have reported modest gains in driveability and mileage. It has been mentioned so i will add my .02, if it is available straight #2 with a good antigel is cheaper and will yield better mileage and smoother running than winter blended fuel, up north even blended fuel needs antigel in january.
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Your Owner's Guide tells you to not put any additives in your fuel or oil. The only additive Ford recommends is the friction modifier for rear axles that include limited slip.
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The Diesel owner's guide suppliment mentions Stanadyne (sp?) as the only ford approved fuel additive. At least I'm thinking it was the Diesel suppliment. Maybe it was a TSB or something but I know I've seen it somewhere.
FWIW I use Power Service cause I can get it at Wally-World.
i have spent a life time in big trucks and ford diesel pick-up trucks. additives just part you from some of your money and nothing more,,,no "anti"gell " stuff works at all. when fuel gets down to 30 or 40 below,,its gells, period! and we all know that west verginia is the ice box of the great frozen north. i cant remember the year, but i understand it got to 50 below one time. i think it was sometime during the last ice-age some 10,000 years ago. and what about the guy from memphis worrying about gelling. the only cure from gelling is to install a heater on the feed and the return fuel lines. but i ask again,,when is it ever going to get to those sub=zero temps in w.v.?
I'm on my 3rd Ford 7.3 PSD truck now. I have NEVER added anything to the oil. I believe oil additives are detrimental to the engine because they modify oil that is highly chemically engineered for the service.
I carry several bottles of Stanadyne in the box on the truck. I've had them for some time. The only time I use Stanadyne is when we're in Yellowstone or some such place where it gets cold. I don't believe I really need it at the temperatures I see out West cause I'm out there after the winter, but I use it then just in case.
I've never had a failure of a lubricated or fuel handling part on any truck or car I've ever owned....gas or diesel....and I've always maintained them strictly by the book. Modern vehicles really are a lot better than stuff made 40-50 years ago.
Cold snap here on the beach.....47F this morning! I'm thinking about hooking up the block heater.
Florida Ed
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2001 7.3 F-350 Dually Lariat CC LWB 4X2 Dark Green 4.10 4R100 5'ver Hauler (32' Montana 2 slides 10,500# - 2,000# tongue weight), 106 gal aux tank, 112K miles, nephews arguing over who will inherit it 'cause I'm gonna' drive it 'til I die. Bone stock.
2001 5.4 Gasser F-250 XLT Crewcab SWB 4X2 3.73 4R100 67K miles headed to 150K (wife's vehicle on the "junk-iron" theory of vehicle safety....most junk iron wins in a crash) stock as the day it was made
Before these: '00 F-250 CC PSD, '97 F-250 CC PSD, '94 Ford F-150, '91 Ford E-250, '81 Ford E-150, '66 Ford F-100 (cars not included)
I tell you all something, I had this same question a month or so ago, but every single "Old Timer" I talk to swears by Sea Foam. so I started useing it and I love it, a tad bit expensive, butI trust YEARS of driveing over some Ford know it all engineer.
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2000 F-250 Extended Cab, Bone Stock, Fire engine Red 285/75/R16 now without K&N filter
no "anti"gell " stuff works at all. when fuel gets down to 30 or 40 below,,its gells, period!
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Sorry, but cold flow improvers work. They change the size and shape of the wax crystals. They may not change the cloud point much, but they can lower the cold filter plugging point and the freeze point. You know, those things that mean the difference between your engine running and not. During winter months, it's not uncommon for bulk suppliers to add them to their fuel.
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by Dually04:
we all know that west verginia is the ice box of the great frozen north. i cant remember the year, but i understand it got to 50 below one time. i think it was sometime during the last ice-age some 10,000 years ago.
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-30F: Mountain Lake, Virginia. 1985.
Right now that part of the country is experiencing temps between zero and the lower teens. Regular #2 diesel begins gelling between +10 to +15F. So I see no reason to belittle the question and not be prepared with an additive.
below -25 last year here, our trucks both semi's and pickups with straight #2 and anti-gel (we use Howes DieselTreat) they start and run fine all winter....we have several semis parked in the yard until they need servicing. we either pull them into the shop or dump an apropriate amount of antigel to the tank, with the antigel if the batteries are charged, the trucks will run fine. without it they will either not start or will start and die very shortly after. for us the antigel works and makes a huge difference over straight #2. last year a friend of mine had his truck gel up on blended fuel 50% #1 and 50% #2, plus he got worse mileage....for us we will stick to #2 and anti-gel.
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